Category: Weekend Wildcard

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Roasted Tomato Soup With a Kick!

tomato soup with garlic and chillis

Recipe: Roasted Tomato Soup With a Kick!

I spotted a certain influencer in the UK post her recipe for tomato soup last week that would have fed a pigeon. So when I harvested the last of the tomatoes from our polytunnel I figured I’d show you how soup is really, really simple to make.

Serves 4 people

Ingredients
1.5kg mixed tomatoes (size does not matter)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 – 3 small chillis, chopped
Generous glug of olive oil
Salt & Pepper
Basil to serve

Method
Chop the tomatoes into chunks. If you are using cherry tomatoes just leave them as they are. Turf the lot into a deep dish baking tray and drizzle with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper.

Roast in the oven at 170 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour. Until you have the level of char you’re happy with.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before blitzing. Add the basil leaves at the very end.

I see a lot of people recommending you cook or roast fresh basil. It’s a very soft herb. Yes it looks lovely on camera and on baking trays but you will ruin the flavour. Add soft herbs at the end of the cooking process for the best flavour

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Burger Wheels Recipe

Burger wheels with puff pastry, beef and pepper

Burger Wheels Recipe
Serves: 6-8 people

Ingredients
• 1 roll puff pastry
• 450g mince beef
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried garlic
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 200g grated cheese

Method

1. Preheat a fan oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Line a baking tray.

2. Spread out the puff pastry and press the mince beef to an even layer on top. Sprinkle liberally with the cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper, and dried garlic.

3. Add the chopped onions as the next layer, then half the grated cheese.

4. Carefully roll the pastry and then slice into circles. Place the circles onto the baking tray.

5. Sprinkle the top with the remaining grated cheese.

6. Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes, until golden on top & the pastry has puffed up.

7. Serve with pickles, mayonnaise, fresh tomatoes and lettuce if you like. Or eat in the hand as you go. This is messy food but it’s very very satisfying!


Recipe Notes:
Don’t use lean meat in this recipe as it needs the cheaper beef with the higher fat content.
I’d probably chop up the gherkins to add to the mixture if I thought my family would eat them.

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Batty Bourbons Recipe

This is a fudgy, chewy biscuit recipe perfect for filling with chocolate buttercream.

Batty Bourbons Recipe
This is a fudgy chewy biscuit recipe which is perfect for filling with chocolate buttercream.
Ingredients
• 300g plain flour
• 100g cocoa powder
• 90g of caster sugar
• 85g of butter at room temperature
• 2 medium eggs
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (or the seeds from 1 vanilla pod)
Method
Beat the butter and sugar together until soft and fluffy.
Add the eggs one by one and beat until they are well mixed into the batter.
Add the vanilla extract or seeds from a pod.
Pour the flour and baking powder slowly into the bowl and beat until mixed with the eggs, sugar and butter. Then the cocoa powder
Beat until everything becomes a tight dough.
Cut a large piece of cling film and turn out the dough onto the cling film.
Wrap well and place into the fridge for at least 1 hour before rolling and baking.
At this point you can put the dough into the freezer to keep for up to a month. Just remember to take it out to defrost in the fridge until you are ready to cut it to size and bake.
After at least an hour heat your (fan) oven to 180 degrees Celcius.
Dust your worksurface and rolling pin with flour.
Cut as you please with whatever shape cutters you like. I used a variety of different cutters this time.
The amount of time the cookies will take to cook depends on their size. A medium (palm of your hand) sized cookie takes approximately 10 mins. Adjust your cooking time up if they are bigger or thicker, down if they are thinner or smaller.
For the chocolate buttercream – beat together 225g of unsalted butter with 350g of icing sugar and 150g of melted chocolate.


Recipe notes: I made any leftover cookie dough into small balls which I put into a box and froze. I can make instant cookies at short notice now with these offcuts.
Yes, I made far too much buttercream, just as well it freezes perfectly for another day.

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Pumpkin Pasta Recipe

Pasta with pumpkin, spinach, and cheese


Serves: 4
Cooking Time: 1 hour
Preparation Time: 40 mins
Ingredients
• 1 large bag of fresh spinach
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• Decent glug of olive oil.
• 1 small pumpkin, sliced (seeds scooped out)
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried garlic
• Salt & Pepper
• 650ml passata
• 250g fresh lasagne sheets
• 200g grated mozzarella
• 75g grated parmesan

Method
In a large pan saute fresh spinach leaves with olive oil and garlic, plenty of salt and pepper utnil the spinach is wilted. Set to one side to drain and cool.

Coat the pumpkin slices well in olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Once cooked, set to one side to cool a little.
Blitz the spinach mixture to a paste. Mash the cooled pumpkin with dried garlic and oregano.

Grease a deep baking dish well with butter or olive oil then pour half the passata into the bottom of the baking dish and season well.

Take the fresh lasagne sheets and slice them in half lengthways so that you have long rectangular pieces. Take the first piece and spoon a small amount of the spinach mixture onto the length of the fresh pasta, sprinkle some grated mozzarella on top of the spinach. Roll the the pasta into a tube then sit the tube upright in the baking dish. Take the second piece and fill with the pumpkin mixture, sprinkle grated mozzarella on top, roll and sit upright.

Continue filling and rolling the pasta pieces until the baking dish is full. Pour the remaining passata on top of the tubes and gently rock the baking dish back and forth until the passata sinks into the dish. Season well then sprinkle the top of the pasta with the remaining mozzarella and the grated parmesan.

Bake in the oven at 170 degrees for 30 minutes before serving.

You’ll have wonderfully crispy cheese and pasta bits on top but soft and yielding pasta underneath. This dish is all about the texture. I like to eat mine with a fresh salad. The kids love theirs with the other main food groups for lasagne eating; that is potato wedges and garlic bread. No coleslaw here!

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Leek & Potato Soup Recipe

potato leek and onion soup


Ingredients
· 1 large knob of butter
· 2 leeks, washed and chopped
· 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
· 4 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
· 1.5 pints vegetable stock
· Fresh thyme & parsley

Method
Melt the butter in a large saucepan on a medium heat. Add the onions first and cook for about 5 minutes so that they begin to soften. Add the leeks and cook for another 5 minutes.
Stir in the potato chunks and coat well in the leek and onion mixture.

Pour the vegetable stock into the saucepan, stir. Add some fresh thyme leaves. Cover the saucepan and bring the contents to a slow simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes turn off the heat and allow to cool slightly before blending with a stick blender.

Serve with fresh parsley & oodles of white pepper – which is my preference. Apparently this carb-full soup is best enjoyed with a doorstep of fresh buttered batch but honestly I find it filling enough.

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Chocolate & Caramel Banana Bread (Cake)

banana bread with vanilla extract and chocolate chips

This is a decadant recipe that is incredibly moreish!

Ingredients
* 150g butter.
* 150g muscavado or soft brown sugar.
* 3 large eggs.
* 3 ripe bananas.
* 200g plain flour.
* 150g wholemeal flour.
* 1 teaspoon baking powder.
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
* 100g chocolate chips.
* 30g brown sugar for the crisp caramel topping.

Method.
Line a loaf tin and preheat a fan oven to 160 degrees Celsius.
Cream the butter and sugar together until soft, then crack in the three eggs and beat into a batter. Next, beat in the soft bananas.
In a separate bowl, combine the plain flour, wholemeal flour, and the baking powder. Then add into the batter in the mixing bowl until combined.
Stir in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and the chocolate chips. Spoon the mixture into your lined loaf tin. Then sprinkle a line of the brown sugar down the centre of the loaf tin for the caramel topping.
Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, until cooked through. Use the skewer test to make sure your cake is baked. If it has some batter still stuck to it, increase your baking time by a further 10 minutes before testing again.
Wait until the cake is fully cool before slicing and enjoying. Otherwise it’ll crumble and while it tastes delicious it won’t slice as well!

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Slow Cooker Fudge Recipe

chocolate fudge with vanilla

Ingredients
1 tin sweetened condensed milk
500g chocolate, chopped (I prefer milk chocolate only, but dark is also fine and gives a richer flavour)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method
I recommend placing a heatproof dish or jug inside your slow cooker to make this recipe. Simply because it makes it easier to lift out the contents when the ingredients are melted together, you can make this recipe by placing the ingredients directly into the cooker.

Pour the condensed milk and chopped chocolate into the cooker/container and stir.

Put the slow cooker on low. Stir the contents every 15 minutes or so, making sure to scrape down the sides of the container.

After 1 hour, all your ingredients should be melted together and combined. If not, allow for a further 15 minutes.

Turn off the slow cooker and remove the lid, allowing any steam to escape. Line a 20cm square baking tin with non-stick baking parchment. Pour the fudge mixture into the tin and leave to cool on the counter, uncovered (this prevents condensation on top).

Once cold, cover the tin and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before tipping out the contents and slicing them into fudge cubes. Allow the fudge to come to room temperature before serving.

Recipe Notes: This fudge will keep in a sealed tin in a cool, dark space for up to 3 months. It may crystalise a little if stored for over a month. I prefer to make it about a week in advance of gifting. Place in a pretty glass jar decorated with ribbon to give as a Christmas gift, and expect loads of oohs and aahs at how clever you are to make your handmade fudge!

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Lemon Drizzle Cake Recipe

cake with a lemon drizzle

Make a large batter for twice the joy.
Ingredients
* 227g unsalted butter *
* 350g caster sugar *
* 6 free range eggs *
* 400g self raising flour *
* 3-4 organic lemons *
* 250g icing sugar for the drizzle *

~ Method ~
Preheat a fan oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Beat together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Slowly add the eggs, one-by-one, until combined. Add half the flour, beat and then add the second half. Grate the rind of 2 lemons, add to the batter and mix. Squeeze in the juice of 2 lemons (that you grated the rind off). Mix well. Pour your batter into 2 baking tins. This is the perfect amount for 2 large loaf tins. Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes until a skewer test comes out clean. Allow to cool before icing. To make the icing combine 250g of icing sugar with lemon juice until you get a dropping consistency – see the video for how this should look. Ice and slice

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Gin & Grapefruit Cranberry Sauce Recipe

grapefruit juice and cranberries and gin mashed together

Ingredients

Juice of 1 & half grapefruits
600g fresh cranberries
Good glug of decent gin
150g sugar

Method
Take the juice of 1 & a half grapefruits and place into a large saucepan on a medium heat. Add the cranberries, cover the saucepan and wait until the contents begin to bubble lightly. You will hear the cranberries begin to pop in the pan. Add a glug of decent gin and the sugar. Stir so that all the ingredients are combined.

Simmer for 10 minutes before mashing. Mash until all the cranberries have popped. Simmer again for a further 6 minutes. Decant the sauce into a warm, sterilised jar, allow to cool completely before placing the lid on top. This sauce will keep for up to 10 days in the fridge

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Last Minute Limoncello Recipe

lemon vodka and sugar

You only need 4 days to make this incredible zingy limoncello which makes the perfect handmade Christmas gift. Makes just over 1 litre of limoncello in total. I decant it into 100ml bottles for gifts.

Ingredients
6 organic lemons (washed)
70cl bottle of vodka
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

Method
Peel the lemons, taking care to cut as little of the white pith as possible. Place the lemon peel into a large jar. Pour the vodka on top. Put the jar into a cool dry place for 4 days.

After 4 days, combine 1 cup of sugar with 1 cup of water in a saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer until all the sugar has dissolved and allow to cool.

Decant the cooled sugar syrup into a large jug, strain the lemon vodka into the jug. Mix until well combined. Fill up bottles of your choice.

Serve neat over ice or diluted with soda water. Always drink responsibly.